NEWS For Immediate Release May 9, 2013

Contact: Mary Taylor

CHICAGO – Brewster Kahle has been named the winner of the 2013 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology.

Emerald Group Publishing Limited and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) sponsor the award that recognizes outstanding individuals or institutions for their long-term contributions in the area of Library and Information Science technology and its application.

After graduating from MIT in 1982, Brewster Kahle developed a system for publishing, distributing and searching information on the Internet, known as the Wide Area Information Server (WAIS), which was a precursor to the World Wide Web. In 1996, he founded the Internet Archive and began archiving and indexing Web pages and other digital content, preserving it for posterity and making it freely and openly accessible. One popular feature of the Internet Archive is the Wayback Machine, which enables users to search and retrieve over 280 billion archived web pages.

Michael Witt, LITA/Hi Tech Award Committee chair, said, “When Brewster started the Internet Archive, he used the analogy of Library of Alexandria to explain what he was attempting to do, and he took the title of Digital Librarian for himself. His goal of enabling universal access to all knowledge speaks directly to the mission of libraries.”

Kahle has been an important advocate for digitization and increasing access to information electronically. He was instrumental in the creation of the Open Content Alliance and the Open Library that provides more than 1 million free e-books online. He has served on advisory boards for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the Library of Congress. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. In 2012, Kahle was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.

The Library and Information Technology Association and Emerald, the publisher of Library Hi Tech, are pleased to present the 2013 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award to Brewster Kahle for his outstanding contributions to communication in library science and technology.  The award will be presented during Sunday Afternoon with  LITA on Sunday June 30, 2013, at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

About LITA

Established in 1966, LITAis the leading organization reaching out across types of libraries to provide education and services for a broad membership including systems librarians, library administrators, library technologists, library schools, vendors and many others interested in leading edge technology and applications for librarians and information providers.  For more information about LITA go to www.lita.org, or contact the LITA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4268; or e-mail: lita@ala.org

About Emerald

Established in 1967, Emerald Group Publishing has become the world’s leading scholarly publisher of journals and books in business and management with a strong and growing presence in disciplines including library and information science, social sciences, engineering, linguistics and audiology.  In total, Emerald publishes over 700 titles, comprising 200 journals, over 300 books and more than 200 book series as well as an extensive range of online products and services.  Emerald is both COUNTER and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. For more information about Emerald to go www.emeraldinsight.com.

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